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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Throughout the year, we use candles as part of our celebrations. Candles on a birthday cake, candles inside a jack-o-lantern. This time of year we see many more uses of light in celebrations.

Winter Solstice, a celebration of Light and the return of the Sun, has been celebrated for thousands of years. It was known in old Europe as Yule. People burned the Yule log to celebrate.

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, commemorates the rededication of the Temple
in Jerusalem and is a remembrance of the miracle when there was only enough oil
for the Temple lamp for one day. Instead, it lasted eight days. Starting last
night (December 12th), a candle in the menorah is lit each day until the celebration ends on December 20th.

Kwanzaa, a modern holiday celebrating African-American
heritage, uses a special candle holder called a kinara that holds seven candles, each color has a special meaning. Kwanzaa lasts from December 26 to January 1st. Each day a candle is lit.

nationachristmastree.org

Christmas is celebrated many days before the actual day, December 25th. Lights play a large part in Christian celebrations because of the belief that Jesus is the Light of the World. Lights on
trees, on houses, around the inside of houses. In a time without electricity lit
candles were used instead. Lights on the Christmas tree came with the German
immigrants and became a tradition. Candles pinned or glued with wax to the
branches of a dead evergreen? I can just imagine the danger of fire.

a Christmas card designed by Adele Soderberg

Today is St. Lucia’s feast day in Sweden. Legend goes that
while secretly bringing food to persecuted Christians (around 300 AD) she wore candles
in a wreath on her head to keep her hands free.

newcastic.com

A tradition popular in the
American southwest that has spread around the country are luminarias, candles in a bag with sand that outlines the path to one’s house. Christmas traditions in other countries can be found here.

Michiganlife.com

Some people really get into decorating with lights—to the
point of competition. Others like to coordinate the lights with music. All fun
unless they go overboard. Imagine their electric bill. As entertaining as they
are, I’m not so sure I’d want to live next door.

There is something, though, about lights that bring joy and
happiness. Maybe because light dispels the gloom and early darkness at this
time of year, when daylight is shorter, and reminds us that spring isn’t too far off.

When I asked my cover designer to incorporate a candle in
the cover for my latest release, Romance
Rekindled, she did a great job.

Blurb:

Abby Ten Eyck likes her life the way it is. She runs a
successful business, has a well-adjusted teenage daughter, and has managed to
keep men at bay since her divorce fifteen years ago. Just before Christmas,
she’s hit with change. Her mother decides to sell the family home. Then she’s
arrested, with an unknown man. Could this new man in her mother’s life create
more upheaval? Or could his handsome son be just what Abby needs to revive her
dormant feelings?

Sam Watson embraces transition from frenetic Wall Street to
a small Michigan resort town. His health is worth moving close to his dad who
seems over the moon in love. But it’s the daughter of his father’s girlfriend who
fascinates him. Abby Ten Eyck reminds him of his driven self. He must help her
slow down before she burns out. Like he did.

Diane Burton combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction and romance into writing romantic fiction.
For more info and excerpts from her books, visit Diane’s website: http://www.dianeburton.com

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Thanks for having me back at Paranormal Romantics! Always a
nice feeling to be back here for the day.

I’ve got a new release,
Aydarr (A Badari Warriors Scifi Romance
Novel), Sectors New Allies Series Book 1. This is the first book in a new
series I’m launching, connected to my scifi world of the Sectors, but with the
action taking place elsewhere. I’m excited about writing an actual series with
a specific overarching plotline, although of course each individual book has a
satisfying Happy for Now ending for the hero and heroine. No cliffhangers! Each
book will focus on a different couple, but the primary characters in the series
will be showing up in the story no matter who is front and center. It’s a bit
different for me, so I’m hoping my readers will like it!

I thought I’d share a short excerpt from the book today.

The blurb:

Jill Garrison, a maintenance tech at the
Sectors Amarcae 7 colony, goes to sleep one night as usual only to wake up in
her nightgown stranded in the middle of a forest on an unknown world. There’s
no time to think as she’s stalked by carnivorous predators and rescued by
genetically engineered warriors calling themselves the Badari. Turns out they
and she, along with her whole colony, are now prisoners of the Khagrish, a
ruthless race of alien scientists. Working for enemies of the Sectors, the
Khagrish have created the Badari to be super soldiers.

Aydarr, the Badari
alpha, isn’t sure he can trust Jill but his attraction to her is undeniable. He
impulsively claims her as his mate to prevent her death at the hands of the
Khagrish.

Can he continue to
protect her from the experiments already underway? Will his claiming her put his pack in
jeopardy from their alien masters?

As Jill searches for a
way to rescue her fellow humans and get them all to safety, she finds herself
falling for Aydarr, despite the secrets he’s keeping. She has a few of her own.

The situation becomes
dire when Aydarr and his pack are sent offplanet on a mission, leaving Jill
unprotected, prey for the senior scientist. Can she escape the experiments he
has in mind for her? Will she be able to thwart the Khagrish plans and liberate
humans and Badari alike? How will she and Aydarr reunite?

The excerpt from the
beginning of the book:

Why am I lying face
down on the wet grass in the rain?

Jill rolled over, putting a hand to her forehead in an
attempt to quell a ferocious headache. Opening her eyes gingerly, she blinked
at the vividly colored pink, purple and blue leaves on the tree above her,
which certainly had never grown on Amarcae 7. She’d been all around her home
colony on various repair jobs, and nothing there had riotous leaves in these
colors, much less with spikes at the tips. As she watched, one of the leaves
snapped into a tight roll to capture a slow moving insect.

“Thank the Lords of Space I’m too big a bite.” Wary,
nauseous, she sat up, swaying a bit, and examined her unfamiliar surroundings.
She was in the midst of an old growth forest, with other forms of vegetation
besides the carnivorous trees but nothing recognizable.

A loud roar in the distance gave her the shivers, and she
forced herself to stand, staggering a few feet to lean on a less colorful
tree’s broad trunk to stay upright. Despite the rain, her mouth was dry, and
she had a hard time swallowing. “What the seven hells?”

Her mind was curiously blank, no memory of how she’d gotten
to this place, or what had happened in the last few hours. She guessed it might
be late afternoon here, from the glimpse she got of the white sun above the
horizon, before the clouds drifted in front of the orb again. She refused to
contemplate the fact that the star providing heat and light to her colony was
yellow. If the sun here was white hot, the reality of where she stood, lost in
the galaxy, was terrifying.

She remembered eating dinner in her small modular house on
the edge of the colony, falling asleep watching an adventure trideo she’d seen
a hundred times then…nothing.

“And
now I’m here.” She took a closer look at her left arm and did a double take. A
black bracelet she’d never seen before was solid against her skin just above
the wrist, with no visible hinge or fastening. As she gawked at it, prying at
the edges in an increasingly desperate attempt to make the band move, flickers
of red and yellow pulsed inside the cool, hard surface. The bracelet and what
it might mean scared her more than the loss of short term memory or even the
unknown sun above her.

The
roar came again, closer, and was answered by another. Something hunting me maybe? Distracted from the ominous mystery of the
bracelet, she was briefly tempted to try climbing the tree, but the
lightheadedness persisted. Also, the smooth trunk didn’t offer anything in the
way of handholds. She pushed off, realizing she was barefoot, wearing her
short, pink-and-black nightgown, molded to her body by the rain. Lingerie was
her secret luxury after a day spent in technician’s coveralls, but certainly
not suited to this experience.

Am I dreaming? She paused, gazing at the
sky and pushing her damp hair off her face. The shower had tapered off and now
the sun was shining but an ominous gray storm front was advancing. A bolt of
lightning arced across the sky, and Jill broke into a zigzag run, forcing her
body to respond to her terror. Standing anywhere close to a giant tree in a
thunder storm was a recipe for disaster.

I’m in a nightmare,
not a dream, but it’s all too real. In her headlong flight, she stepped on
a rock or a sharp root and cried out, but she kept going as thunder boomed. She
had to find either a stand of small trees surrounded by taller ones or a
ravine. Of course, an actual shelter would be better than either of those
make-do options but probably too much to hope for.

Running
full tilt, ignoring the pain from her foot, she suddenly slammed into an
invisible barrier and bounced off, falling on her back. Cautiously she rose,
extending her arms. The barrier was a tingling against her palms. She tried
going right then left, but the wall ran for quite some distance in both
directions. Being in an invisible cage was the most unsettling thing since she’d
awakened, especially when coupled with the bracelet affixed to her arm.

A boom of thunder directly overhead startled her into
motion, and she ran in a new direction, terrified of being struck by lightning.
The rain lashed her face and barely-covered body, like stinging nettles, adding
impetus to her desperation to find cover.

The
ground gave way under her feet. She teetered on the edge of the sinkhole or
pit, but her precarious state of vertigo betrayed her. Screaming, she half
slid, half fell into the deep hole, debris raining down with her.

USA Today Best Selling Author “SciFi Encounters” columnist for the USA Today Happy Ever
After blog Veronica Scott grew
up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved
ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in
everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own
stories.

Seven time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a
National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud
recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job,
not her romances!

She was honored to
read the part of Star Trek Crew Member in the audiobook production of Harlan
Ellison’s “The City On the Edge of Forever.”

Diane Burton combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction and romance into writing romantic fiction.
For more info and excerpts from her books, visit Diane’s website: http://www.dianeburton.com

Saturday, December 9, 2017

As we wind the year to a close and I'm recovery from surgery, I wanted to spend some time looking back at the Wolves of Willow Bend.

In Wolf Bite, released in July 2014, Mason Clayborne heard
the sound of a familiar woman being mugged—pursuing the sound he raced into an
alleyway in Dallas in time to see Alexis Huston breaking the nose of her would
be assailant. Coming face to face with his past dropped a pebble into the still
waters, and those ripples would become a tidal wave.

The wave would gather force as the ripples spread out to
include wolves like A.J., abandoned by his previous alpha and left to stew in a
prison, and Owen, the senior Hunter whose love for a journeyman healer drove
him to follow her to another pack when Hudson River needed her help.

Mason’s relationships with other alphas like Brett and
Serafina opened the door to new challenges and changes for more than only
Willow Bend. With each subsequent novel, we journeyed to the five different
packs and even met an alpha from Italy.

Each arc from Rise of the Alpha (books 1-3), Dawn of Three
Rivers (book 4-6), Wolves of Change (Books 7-9) to Guardians of the Wolves
(Books 10-12), has played a role in the evolution of a world which brings us to
Ghost Wolf.

I can say any number of factors, events, and people inspired
this novel. It covers a range of time from World War II to the present day. Each
decade has a different flavor, a lingo, and rhythm to it that affected the
point of in the tale blossoming. More, many of the events occurred during my lifetime
and it was fun to look back at moments like needing a phone book to look up
someone’s address.

Hello, no Internet!

More, at the heart of the story were two people who share a
convoluted journey and a long history—it was a romance, which fired my
imagination. I admit to loving all the books I’ve written, but Ghost Wolf is special—because it weaved
so many threads together.

At the end of the day, each novel in the Wolves of Willow Bend adds to the overall mythology, but remains focused on the core couple and how their lives are changed by knowing each other.

Looking for some great paranormal escape this month? Head over to Willow Bend for some small town romance with a bite!

Heather Long lives in Texas with her family and their menagerie of animals. As a child, Heather skipped picture books and enjoyed the Harlequin romance novels by Penny Jordan and Nora Roberts that her grandmother read to her. Heather believes that laughter is as important to life as breathing and that the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are very real. In the meanwhile, she is hard at work on her next novel.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

My slightly dumb but gorgeous Viking dragon shifter, Leo, is
on the loose! Leo is hot AF and does not like Nazis. That is all you need to
know.

But I’ll tell you more anyway, because I’m awesome like
that. When I wrote Leo, I had two versions of Chris Hemsworth in mind:
Hemsworth as Thor and Hemsworth as Kevin in the 2016 Ghostbusters remake. And because Leo himself has more than two
versions, this makes sense. (Boy, am I on a cryptic roll tonight.) Both are
totally adorable. He also has multiple Norse tattoos, which, as Leo and I
discovered together, can give people the wrong idea, because certain
deplorables have coopted the Norse gods for their own purposes over the years.
Leo is not down with that.

Rhea, the heroine, is also adorable, tattooed (and a tattoo
artist), with Riot Grrl (is that still a thing?) “mermaid” hair, and, as my editor commented, she is
salty AF. (I added the AF, but I know that’s what she meant.) Particularly to
Leo. But he kind of has it coming.

And all of this is just in time for the holidays, as the
Wild Hunt, which Leo leads, rides from the Day of the Dead (or rather the Norse
equivalent, Álfablót,
a sacrifice to the elves) through Yuletide. Leo just happens to lead his Hunt
through the Arizona desert among the snow-capped red rocks of Sedona, inspired
by Johnny Cash’s Ghostriders in the Sky.

So, to recap, Leo looks like Thor, can be not-so-bright on
occasion like Kevin, leads Odin’s Wild Hunt, has more than one personality, can
shift into a Norse dragon, punches Nazis, and wears a cowboy hat and boots with
a brown leather duster while riding through Sedona’s snowy nights. And Rhea has
the blood of Lilith in her veins (oh, did I not mention that?), can read
people’s fates in their tattoos, looks like a Riot Grrl (cuz I'm old), and is salty.

Oh, and for readers who like “Easter eggs” in their books (of
a sort):

Dressler means Turner in German.

And that reference is timely right now, but that’s all I
have to say about that, or I’ll just have a rage fit.

Never mind me; it’s been that kind of a year.

The Dragon’s Hunt,
Book 3 in the Sisters in Sin series
from Harlequin Nocturne, is available now from the following retailers:

As a special bonus, I’ve just received the cover for Book 4
in the series, Seducing the Dark Prince:

Hell Might Be Heavenly...for One of the Sisters in Sin

Lucien Smok is heir to the Smok fortune. He's also the crown
prince of Hell, a legacy he despises. Clairvoyant Theia Dawn tries to convince
herself that she's only interested in Lucien because of his family's role in
the persecution of her ancestor, not because he's the most beguiling man she's
ever met. The attraction that burns between them might be her downfall. Or it
might be his salvation.

Seducing the Dark Prince is available now for pre-order from the following retailers:

Jane Kindred is the author of the Harlequin Nocturne series, Sisters in Sin, and the epic fantasy series The House of Arkhangel’sk, Demons of Elysium, and Looking Glass Gods. She
spent her formative years ruining her eyes reading romance novels in
the Tucson sun and watching Star Trek marathons in the dark. She now
writes to the sound of San Francisco foghorns while two cats slowly but
surely edge her off the side of the bed.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Seems like yesterday it was November and Thanksgiving... Oh, wait, that could be because I'm still seeing turkey everywhere since I cooked a 25 pound bird. My kitties and all those rampaging in the neighborhood are happy balls of fur who definitely put on a few pounds.

It's also the time of year an abundance of wonderful holiday stories hit shelves in every book outlet. I enjoy Christmas stories that give a peek at how many ways people celebrate the season. Do they stay home and decorate a tree or whip up delicious goodies that everyone samples around a fireplace as carols heralding the season play softly in the background? Is attendance at an office party or a small gathering of friends part of their festivities? And who doesn't wonder if an elf may show up--will they bring joy or mischief? As the scent of cinnamon, apples, and peppermint waft through air, I look for books that toss a generous dose of spice into a romance.

So many magical things crop up during this time of year as happens in my Christmas stories which are erotic romances. A visit to a far-off romantic island getaway, celebration of a special bonding ceremony, and Santa Claus, well, his son anyway.

HOLIDAY BLUES brings the story of an office manager who becomes entangled in a threesome with her boss and his best friend.Two men who love
each other, add one woman…

Pennington
Seevers picked the same all-inclusive island get-away the very woman he wants
to escape also chose. Partner, best friend, and lover, Rory Burton, is along
for the trip and though they enjoy sex together, even love each other, Rory
insists Pennington is more than attracted to Headley Etta Xavier and accuses
him of not wanting to share as they often do.

Headley
Etta Xavier who goes by the name Hex knows involving herself with her boss,
Pennington, or his second in command, Rory, might mean an end to her job so she
takes her first vacation in years hoping to wipe both from her mind. Little
does she realize the men she watches having sex from a hidden spot behind a
tree is Penn and Rory. Worse yet, seeing them in the act doesn’t deter Hex, it makes her hotter than hell!

A holiday to remember or a case of holiday blues?

THE GIFT tells the tale of two men who overcome adversity to celebrate a special bond.

Rad
and Crayton— the same yet different. They meet as often as possible throughout
the year to be together. Christmastime is particularly special; it's when they
celebrate their bonding. Mermen, one born in the south Caribbean Sea, the other
from frozen waters surrounding Iceland. Neither can exist for long in the
other's climate.

Rad
returns to his summer home in Pennsylvania, determined it will be the last
time. The cold has taken a deadly toll on him. Cray can go no farther south, so
they will have to give up their celebration, and the Christmas holiday
together.

Lacey Dalton gave up on Santa Claus a long time ago. Every Christmas Eve she waited like a good girl to see what Santa would bring. He never came. Now she’s in her late twenties and he shows up with a contract! If Lacey signs on the dotted line, anything she wants is hers… if she lets Santa have her for one night.

Hopefully, you'll find something to brighten your holiday, a story that brings back a wonderful memory, a new idea for celebrating the season.Merry Christmas early!Growl and roar-it's okay to let the beast out. - J. Hali Steele

Monday, December 4, 2017

…But not having an
empty, blank page is delightful. When you’ve only got a month to go, let words
flow, let words flow, let words flow!

…Or How ToKeep Writing that Novel Even When You Want To Quit.

Forgive my attempt at butchering what may be one of your
favorite Christmas songs, but I am fresh out of National Novel Writing Month
(NaNoWri) and high off a win. (A win
meaning that I wrote 50,000 words in the month of November).

I’ve written about
NaNoWri many times before and addressed things such as:

So I’m sure you’re wondering what else I could possibly have
to say about National Novel Writing Month—don’t
tempt me. I did just vomit out 50,000 words in a tight time frame.

But
despite participating for the past 10 years, this year’s NaNoWri was a little
different. Even though I love NaNoWri and look forward to it every year. This
year was the first time since I started winning over the last 6 years that I
was tempted to quit.

What Kept My Fingers on the Keyboard

You Can’t Edit A Blank Page (I’ve
tried. It’s Useless)

I may have a ‘hot mess’ of 50,000 words, but there is bound
to be some diamonds in the rough once I tear it apart with editing.

Peer Pressure (AKA: Find Your People)

I joined several teams (SavvyAuthors NaNoWri Bootcamp and From the Heart Romance Writers (FTHRW)) who competed
for the most words for the month. There’s nothing like a little competition to
get me up and at the keyboard at the crack of dawn. The sprints, motivational
quotes and team spirit helped as well.

Be A Role Model (Moms Can’t Be Quitters)

Besides my teams, for the last few years I’ve not competed in NaNoWri alone. For two years both my daughters joined in, but didn’t make it
too far through the month (they were around 13), last year one of my daughters
did NaNoWri with me but she didn’t hit the word count, but this year she did! When I was tempted to give it up I'd see her determinedly pushing through the word counts. When I showed her my winning certificate on the 29th, it pushed her enough to finish over 5,000 words in one day and make goal!

What I Learned From This Year

Prepare Before You
Start: I don’t outline, but prior years when I wrote a brief summary of the
story, or at least a list of plot points I ended up with a more coherent story—that
still required heavy editing.

Don’t Be A “Yes” Girl:
I knew from the start of the month that I’d overextended myself with personal,
professional and writing obligations in addition to NaNoWri. But I was too
stubborn to miss my favorite month.

Kind of Like My Christmas Tree

As the final days of NaNoWri wound down, the story hung
heavy on my mind as we put up our Christmas decorations. Our tree isn’t

one of
the ones that is color coordinated, or themed, it’s more of what I like to
think of as a memory tree. I buy an ornament for my girls and husband each year
to symbolize something from that year.

As I watched the tree spin on the rotating
stand, with it’s collection of ornaments that didn’t quite go together, but each spectacular on their own. I realized that’s kind of how my NaNoWri story turned out
this year.

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in
small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four

seasons—hockey, biking, sweat
pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading
paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and
laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook & Twitter